Let Down Your Hair
by nozomi.no.uta
Summary: While out blowing off steam, Akane comes across a door-less tower and meets Rapunzel...er, Ranma, and life becomes anything but a fairytale.
1. The Doorless Tower

**Author's Comments: **O-o-o-o-okay. Here I am taking a huge leap; this is my first _Ranma 1/2_ fanfic. Ack. I feel out of my element—I'm so used to writing _Kingdom Hearts _or _Detective Conan_ stories. I've never felt the need to write any _Ranma 1/2_ fanfic since the original story is just plain awesome.

I guess what inspired this was the trailer for _Tangled_ that I saw when I went to see _Toy Story 3._ I really wanted to put my own spin on the Rapunzel concept and _Ranma 1/2_ had the best cast of characters to play with. The entire story won't be a Rapunzel thing; it'll be more of a Rapunzel-aftermath thing...if that makes sense.

I just wanted to put this up and see if the story is worth continuing, so please let me know what you think. Hope you enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own _Ranma 1/2_ or _Rapunzel_.

* * *

Her knuckles cracked as she fisted her hands in barely-concealed anger. How could he? How could her father consent to Sir Kuno's marriage proposal? _He _wasn't the one who would marry Sir Kuno—_she_ was! Her father didn't even ask if _she_ was alright with the arrangement. Nooooo. She was standing _right next to him_ when he nodded once and said "Okay."

It was _not_ okay! No way in _hell_ was it okay!

She quickly jumped out of the way of the tree crashing down from her enraged punch, tearing her skirt in the process. She cursed at the rip down her leg. Kasumi must have known Sir Kuno was going to propose today—why else would she have _insisted_ she wear a dress? She should have stayed in her training clothes…

Her anger seeped from her veins when amidst the trees she spotted a tower in the distance. Had that tower always been there? If she hadn't punched down the tree, she doubted she would've been able to see it.

She picked up her skirt, stepped over the tree, and jogged over to the white stone tower. Her breath caught in her throat as she marveled the tall building. It had to have stood twice as tall as the wall surrounding her father's castle. Who did it belong to?

Her eyes scanned the flat grassy land surrounding the tower and she walked in a complete, careful circle around the base. She couldn't find a sign or any mark of ownership…or a door.

Her nose wrinkled at the thought. A tower as tall as this one with no door? That was stupid.

She looked over the tower once more. A single window rested at the very top, just below the roof. Could something be inside…?

There was only one way to find out.

As always, she was glad she kept her nails cut short. She gripped slivers of space between stones with her fingertips and began to climb, setting a pattern for herself—hand, hand, foot, foot. Hand, hand, foot, foot. Hand, hand, foot fo—

Her toe scuffed the stone, missing the crevice. Immediately her other foot lost balance and slipped, followed by both her hands. She shut her eyes tight and screamed, flailing her arms around for something to grab…and brushed her fingers on something silky.

Instinctively she clutched for dear life, tangling her fingers in the strands and propping her feet up against the side of the tower. She peeled her eyes open one at a time and nearly let go of her grip out of shock. She was holding onto _hair._

"You okay?"

Her ears perked at the female voice and she followed the stream of hair to the window. She was right—there was something inside this tower. Some_one_.

"Y-Yes!" she shouted back.

"Then climb up!"

As carefully as she could, she pulled herself up the side of the tower, inwardly wincing at the thought of using someone's _hair_ to climb_. _Whenever her ladies-in-waiting (mainly Kodachi, Sir Kuno's twisted sister) tugged too hard on her hair while combing it, she'd cry out in pain.

Ugh. Sir Kuno. Her father really wasn't going to make her marry him, was he?

She pushed aside the thought when she reached the window. Relieved she wouldn't have to use the hair any longer, she swung into the tower and landed lightly on her feet.

"Quick, help me bring this all back in."

Without wasting a moment she turned and scooped the hair into the room, alternating armfuls with her rescuer. Her legs were burning from squatting down and standing back up by the time the two of them heaved all that hair inside. She breathed an accomplished sigh before turning her eyes to her rescuer: a busty girl who stood a few inches shorter than her with hair that cascaded from her ponytail and pooled at their feet. Her blue eyes were clear and sharp and she wore a loose tunic, slacks that were way longer than her legs, and no shoes.

"Thanks," the girl said with a smile.

"No, thank you," she replied quickly, shaking her head. "If it weren't for you I would've fallen pretty hard."

She reached behind her and scratched her head, chuckling bashfully. "It was nothing, but uh…Why were you climbing up, anyway?"

Her cheeks flushed and she averted her gaze to the wooden floor, twiddling her fingers sheepishly. "I…I was curious."

"So you decided to risk your life climbing up the side of the tower?" The girl shrugged and crossed her arms. "Well, s'not like it hasn't happened before."

Carefully she lifted her eyes to see the girl smiling at her. A smile of her own grew on her face as she finally got a good look at the room, padding across the floor as she went—a bed, an empty fireplace, a kettle… "Do you live here?"

"Kinda."

…A bucket, a chair or two, and a staircase leading downwards. "How did you end up here?"

"Uh…heh. It's a long sto—"

"Yoohoo! Ranma!"

She whipped her head at the call just as the girl rolled her eyes and stepped over her hair to lean out the window, muttering darkly under her breath, "Speak of the devil…"

"Ranma, Ranma," she heard a squeaky voice call from outside the tower, "let down your hair!"

"HELL no!" the girl hollered out the window, the upper-half of her body hanging out. "Go away, you old geezer!"

She blinked, beginning to walk over to the window. "Who's that?"

"No!" the girl hissed, jerking her head back towards the far wall. "Stay back so he doesn't see you!"

"Ranma, Ranma, let down your hai—"

"I said GET LOST!" the girl screeched, snatching the shutters and slamming the window shut with a tired huff. "Sorry 'bout that," she apologized grimly.

As the girl stepped back over her hair to walk to the staircase, she asked, "Your name is Ranma?"

"Yeah." The girl disappeared down the stairs. "What's yours?"

Smiling to herself like a child knowingly going against her parents, she purposefully left out her title. "Akane."

"Akane, huh?" Ranma's head popped up above the floor as she made her way back up the stairs, ignoring the fact that she was walking on her own hair. "Nice t'meet ya."

"Same to you." That smile grew. Kasumi wasn't here to chide her to say "The pleasure is mine" or some other excruciatingly formal saying. "Who was that person who came?"

"Him?" She scoffed and rolled her clear blue eyes. "He's the reason I'm here in the first place. Him and my old man. You can sit down if you want, by the way."

"What happened?" She sat down in the chair Ranma waved a hand to.

She froze for a moment then plopped down on the bed, kicking her hair to the side. "I uh…Well, me and my old man and the old geezer were training—"

"You're a martial artist?" she suddenly cut her off. When she saw her nod hesitantly, she lit up and clapped a hand to her chest. "Me too!"

Ranma brightened, her eyes sparkling. "Really? What school?"

"School of Anything Goes."

"_Really?_ Me too! Who's your teacher?"

"My dad."

"Huh. Maybe your old man and my old man know each other."

Akane shrugged. That wasn't important right now. "Anyway, you were training and…"

The sparkle in her eyes dimmed and her smile fell. "Have you heard of Jusenkyo?"

Her jaw dropped. "The Cursed Springs? You were training _there?_"

"Yeah. The old geezer earlier? He kicked me into one of the springs." Ranma sighed. "Since I'm cursed now, my old man's banished me to this tower."

"That's terrible!" Akane exclaimed. "Have you tried escaping?"

"Easier said than done. There aren't any trees to jump to and all _this_—" she waved her arms at the heap of hair on the floor, "—would only weigh me down if I tried climbing out. I'd cut it all off if I had something to cut it with."

Akane frowned and bit her lip. Was there something she could do to help this poor girl? There _had_ to be something. After all, she was a—

"Princess!"

She perked up and exchanged a strange glance with Ranma.

"Princess Akane! Where are you?"

Akane hurried to the window and threw open the shutters, peering down. On the outskirts of the grassy plain, she saw a man around her age weaving amidst the trees. "Princess Akane!" he shouted with a hand cupped next to his mouth.

"What the—You're a _princess?_" Ranma gaped next to her.

She sighed. The jig was up. "Ryoga!" she called to the man after nodding over her shoulder at Ranma. "I'm up here!"

Ryoga whirled towards the tower and blanched. "P-Princess! A-A-Are you alright?" he cried, scurrying to the base of the tower. "How—How did you get up there?"

"I'm fine. My friend helped me." Suddenly it hit her. Ryoga could help her get Ranma out of this tower! "Do you have any rope?" she asked earnestly.

He threw down his rucksack to search its contents. "Yes, Your Highness!"

"A _lot_ of rope?"

"Yes!"

"Okay, I'll be right down!" She turned from the window to Ranma and blinked. The girl had stepped back from the window and looked as pale as a ghost, her eyes darting around nervously. "Are you okay?" Akane asked.

"Y-Yeah!" Ranma quickly said, nodding fervently.

"Can you let your hair down again? Keep it down, too, 'cause I'm gonna be right back."

"O-Okay." She scooped up as much of her hair as she could, tiptoed to the window, and threw her hair over the edge while keeping her feet glued at least a foot from the window. "Be careful."

* * *

Only when Ranma safely touched down on the ground and released the rope did Akane allow Ryoga to fuss over her. "Are you alright, Your Highness? Your father was very worried about you!"

"I'm _fine,_ Ryoga," she insisted. "And enough of the 'Your Highness, Your Highness' stuff. I've told you before to just call me Akane."

Ryoga heaved a huge sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. I'm very glad you're alright, Yo—I mean, A-Akane."

She glanced over her shoulder at the girl huddling behind her. She seemed awfully shy all of a sudden. "If it weren't for my new friend, I'd probably be a broken mess right now."

"What do you mean?" Ryoga asked, craning his neck to get a glimpse of the girl.

"I wanted to see what was inside the tower so I tried climbing it and I almost fell."

"And this girl…uh…" he eyed the stream of hair around their feet, "let her hair down?"

"Yeah." Akane stepped to the side to reveal the girl and smiled encouragingly at her. Maybe Ranma was attracted to Ryoga. How cute!

"Well," Ryoga bowed low to the girl, "thank you for saving Princess Akane…um…" He faltered upon realizing he didn't know her name.

"Ranko."

Akane did a double-take. Ranko? Wasn't her name Ranma?

"Ranko," Ryoga repeated slowly as he straightened up. "Thank you, Miss Ranko."

Taking one last moment to look strangely at Ranma (Ranko? Really?), Akane shook off her confusion and smiled wider. "W-Well, we should head back to the castle. Dad will be thrilled to meet another Anything Goes student."

* * *

By the time the three arrived back at the castle, Akane had half a mind to blow up at Ryoga for his poor sense of direction. What kind of hunter didn't know his way around the forest? From what she'd heard, he barely knew how to get to his own bedroom every night.

They strode into the audience chamber where the king and Kasumi, her oldest sister, fussed together over where she could be. When the two noticed them enter, they immediately rushed to their side. "Akane darling!" Her father extended his arms. "I was so worried about you!"

She glared at him. "I'm still mad at you."

The king cringed and halted in his steps. Kasumi closed the distance and wrapped her arms around her as his slanted eyes fell on the girl standing next to his daughter. "Who is this?"

She chose to keep quiet lest she called the girl the wrong name.

"I'm Ranko." She scratched the back of her head nervously as she bowed slightly and added, "Your Highness."

Akane's nose wrinkled and she furrowed her brow. So her name really was Ranko…Huh. She must have heard incorrectly earlier.

"Where are you from, Miss Ranko?" her father asked.

"The Saotome kingdom."

"Saotome? As in King Genma and Queen Nodoka?"

"Yessir."

He hummed thoughtfully, stroking his chin and nodding with approval. "I see. The king is a good friend of mine."

Akane blinked. She thought she heard Ranko mutter "That explains a lot…"

"We'd be happy to assist you home." He turned to Ryoga and ordered, "Have the stable boys prepare a carriage—"

"She should stay the night, Father," Kasumi suggested just as Ranko began to protest. "It's getting dark outside."

"Yes! Please, Dad?" Akane chirruped. "We just became friends. I don't want her to go yet."

He waved a hand dismissively. "We can bring her home before sundown—"

"You owe me for approving Sir Kuno's marriage without my permission."

He flinched, his eyes brimming with tears as he turned to her and protested, "But Akane, Sir Kuno is our best knight."

"That doesn't matter," she snapped and crossed her arms. "I refuse to marry someone who can't defeat me in a fight."

The king moaned pathetically before blubbering, "Miss Ranko is welcome to stay as long as she'd like."

A pang of realization hit her in the gut. She'd forgotten to ask Ranko if she even wanted to stay here. Glancing at the girl from the corner of her eye, she sheepishly mumbled, "W-Would you like to stay?"

The corner of Ranko's mouth quirked up in a small smile. "If you don't mind…"

"Of course not!" Akane blurted, her face breaking into a smile that threatened to tear her cheeks. "I'd love for you to stay!"

Ranko's smile widened. "In that case," she reached behind her and pinched a section of her hair, "do you have a pair of scissors?"

* * *

**Author's Afterthought: **Well. What do you think? Is it worth continuing? Please leave a review and let me know! Thank you for reading!


	2. Great Friends

**Author's Comments: **Wow! Thank you for your reviews! By popular demand, I shall continue this story. I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Ranma 1/2 _or _Rapunzel.

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_

"_Finally,_" Ranko sighed, tying off her short pigtail braid with a flourish. "I can move my head without wrenching my neck now."

"It must have taken you a while to grow your hair that long," Akane commented as she watched the servants haul away the remaining strands of her chopped-off tresses in awe. The hairdressers would have a field day when all of it was delivered at their doorstep.

"Eh" was all Ranko had to say about it. "Say, do you have a dojo or something?"

Tearing her eyes from the servants, Akane leapt to her feet and headed to her dresser. "I sure do! You wanna spar?"

A pause. "I-I uh…I don't fight girls…"

She halted just as she pulled out a clean _gi._ "You…don't fight girls?" she repeated uncertainly.

"Often," she quickly tacked on, giggling nervously. "I don't fight girls often. My old man's usually the one I spar."

"Oh…well, then this will be a nice change, huh?"

"Right! Y-Yeah! Yeah…I guess…"

"Gimme a sec to change and I'll show you where the dojo is."

When Ranko nodded, Akane strode into her bathroom and shut the door. A smile crept onto her face as she unzipped her dress and slipped it off to put on her _gi._ She really liked Ranko. She was different than the noble girls who visited every so often. They really had a lot in common and she had a feeling they would be _great_ friends.

Akane burst from the bathroom, threw her dress aside to rest on one of her chairs, and nodded her head to the door at Ranko. "Thanks for waiting. It's this way."

Throughout the walk to the dojo Ranko's blue eyes roamed from wall to wall with mild interest. Akane's smile grew. Ranko didn't seem superficial or easily impressed by wealth. It was a nice change; even some of the nobility who came to see her father took a moment to fawn over this or that.

"Well," Akane pushed open the door and waited for the girl to step inside before letting it swing shut, "this is it."

Ranko whistled low as she took in the polished wooden floorboards and the sturdy shiny walls of the dojo. She kept her hands folded behind her head as she spun in a slow circle, nodding slowly. "Not bad."

Akane's feet padded across the floor so she was standing in front of her. "You still up for a little match?"

She froze. "Uh," her eyes flicked to the side momentarily, "if you really wanna…"

"It's just for fun," she reassured her, bending her knees and bringing her fists up in front of her. "I'll go easy on you."

One shoulder shrugged as she stood in place, turning to face her expectantly. "If you say so."

She observed Ranko and her brow creased. Ranko wasn't crouching in position; she stood straight and her arms were still behind her head. An amused light shone in her clear eyes and her lips were quirked in a small grin. Did she…underestimate Akane?

Well. That had to change.

Akane rushed up to her, brought one fist back, and punched…only for Ranko to side-step the attack effortlessly.

Huh. Akane shook her surprise away quickly and punched again…and missed.

"C'mon," she urged Ranko. "Fight back."

She kicked this time. She _still_ missed.

Frustration began to make her head boil. "Ranko, fight _back_," she growled. She punched and kicked and did combinations of all sorts but Ranko dodged every single attack with ease, bending left and right and _backwards_ while remaining rooted to her spot and _smiling_.

That was it. That was _it._

Akane launched herself at Ranko, screaming as she fired attack after attack. Ranko finally stepped back but she still smiled easily, not making any move to lay a finger on Akane. The wall quickly approached and Akane sent her fist rocketing towards Ranko's abdomen only to have it flying straight through the wall.

Something tapped the back of her head gently. With the touch, her frustrated rage disappeared and she widened her eyes in shock, slowly turning on her heels to find Ranko smiling at her.

"Guess I won, huh?" She shrugged.

Akane blinked owlishly. Though her pride was now cracked (and the wall was now ruined), she plastered on a half-fake smile for the girl. "Y-Yeah. You won. You're really good."

"You're not too bad yourself," Ranko said, folding her hands behind her head again.

Akane could only nod, averting her gaze and adjusting the belt holding together her _gi._ A mixture of shame and relief swirled in her gut. Though it was the first time she lost in months, she was just glad she was beaten by a _girl_.

"Huh?"

Oh. Did she say that out loud?

As she was about to elaborate for Ranko, the door to the hallway swung open. Akane instantly swallowed her groan when she saw Sir Kuno stride in, his shoulders pulled back proudly and his eyes half-lidded with arrogance.

"Your Highness," Sir Kuno bowed low, "I am pleased to see you have returned safely."

"Sir Kuno," Akane acknowledged with a stiff nod.

"Please, call me Darling."

Bile rose up Akane's throat and she resisted the urge to stick her tongue out in disgust. "I'd rather not. If you will excuse us…" She grabbed Ranko's wrist and began leading her to the door.

"Who was _that?_" Ranko asked once they'd exited the dojo, glancing over her shoulder with her nose wrinkled.

"Sir Tatewaki Kuno," Akane muttered darkly. "You do _not_ want to have anything to do with him."

"Waitaminnit!" She rushed in front of her and held out her hands to stop her. "That's him?" she asked, pointing behind Akane. "That _creep_ is your fiancé?"

Akane sighed. "I wish it wasn't true."

Ranko cringed, scrunching up her face and falling into step with Akane again. "Ewwwww…"

"I know, right?" She threw up her hands. "I can't stand him. He's so full of himself." She glanced at Ranko. "Are you betrothed to anyone yet, Ranko?"

"_Hell_ no." Her pigtail wagged as she shook her head firmly. "If my old man ever told me I had to marry someone I hated, I'd pummel him right then and there."

She smiled faintly. Ranko had a fiery spirit in her. Akane vaguely mused if there was a man in any of the kingdoms who could tame her…

Oh, but what about the hunter Ryoga? Ranko could hardly look at him for more than five seconds without glancing away shyly. Akane wondered what Ranko thought of Ryoga.

"R-Ryoga?" Ranko stuttered when Akane asked her. "Uh…"

Her eyes widened and a devilish smile tugged at her lips. She suspected correctly! "You like him, don't you?"

"W-WHAT?" she shrieked, jumping a few feet into the air. "_Me?_ Like that…that…"

"Oh don't try to deny it! I saw how shy you got when he came to rescue us. You thought he was pretty amazing, didn't you?"

"That's not it!" she cried, waving her hands in front of her. "I don't like Ryoga! That's gross!"

"Gross?" Akane reeled back as they entered her bedroom again. "But Ryoga's strong and handsome, don't you think?"

"He's, uh, not my type…" Ranko trailed off, her face turning a strange shade of green.

Akane blinked as she shut the door behind her. _Green?_ Didn't girls' faces usually turn _red_ when they thought about the person they liked?

Huh. It could've been a custom thing. Maybe in the Saotome kingdom, girls felt like puking when they thought about the person they like. Akane had never been to the Saotome kingdom so she couldn't be sure.

She glanced at the clock on the wall. "Dinner will be served in a little bit. You should probably take a bath." Akane strode to her dresser to withdraw clean clothes.

"B-Bath?" she heard Ranko repeat. "O-oh. I can go after you."

With her arms full, Akane closed the drawer with her hip. "We can both take a bath at the same time."

Red burst onto Ranko's face and she jumped for the second time, backing away from Akane skittishly. "W-W-Wha…?"

Akane's brow furrowed as she watched Ranko. Was she blushing? "Uh, there's more than one bathroom in this castle, you know."

She froze, seemed to think about her words…then laughed loudly. "Oh! Ha ha! Right! Yeah! This _is_ a castle, right? Ha! Ha…"

Instantly Akane's frown lifted into a smile. Ranko forgot she was staying with a princess. The thought blew her away.

"You can use my bathroom," she told Ranko. "I'll go to the one down the hall. I don't let the servants prepare my bath so let me show you how to use it."

Placing the clothes in her arms down, she took hold of Ranko's small hand and led her to the bathroom, releasing her to show her the faucets. "Hot," she pointed to the one on the left then the one on the right, "cold. Just adjust it however you want." She turned both randomly and let the water run over her fingers. "Here. Come check if this is warm enou—"

"I'll check later!" Ranko quickly cut her off, smiling widely. She grabbed Akane's shoulders and ushered her out of the bathroom. "You can go take your bath! I'll be fine!"

"You sure?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay…" Uncertainly she waved a hand to the dresser where the pile of clothes was left. "Those are for you when you're done."

The girl nodded. "Thanks, Akane."

Ranko shut the door and Akane smiled. The more time she spent with Ranko, the more she grew to like her. She had her first girl-talk in a long, long time and it wasn't nearly as mushy or sappy as any talk she'd had with the other noble girls. _Plus_ Ranko was a skilled martial artist, yet she didn't flaunt her talent. And what's more, Ranko didn't seem to see Akane as a princess; she saw her as a _person._

Akane just _knew _she and Ranko would be great friends.

* * *

**Author's Afterthought: **I was going to break the bad news (about Ranko being a boy) to Akane in this chapter, but I thought it'd be too soon. What do you think? Please leave a review! Thank you for reading!


	3. Cursed

**Author's Comments: **I'm so sorry! My muse went into a deep, deep sleep and just wouldn't wake up! I can't guarantee consistent updates for this story, but I hope you still enjoy reading it. Thank you for your patience!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Ranma 1/2_ or _Rapunzel.

* * *

_

Ranko patted her stomach happily as Akane closed her bedroom door. "Man, that was _so_ good! I haven't eaten like that in _ages!_"

Akane giggled at the memory of Ranko stuffing her face with everything she saw save the dinner table. The poor girl must not have had much to eat in that tower she was stuck in. What kind of a father banished his daughter like that? Why, if Akane ever met him—

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. "Come in," she called.

Nabiki's head popped in. "_There_ you are, Akane." She waved a hand to her. "Come on. Daddy wants us to meet someone."

Akane and Ranko exchanged a glance. Who could be visiting at such a late hour? Still, they followed Nabiki out of the bedroom, down the hall, and into the audience room where they found Akane's father, Kasumi, and a stout man wearing glasses standing near the throne. The man wore a dark coat and pants and…held a large kettle…

"Ah, there you girls are," her father said, turning to the three of them. He clapped a hand on the shoulder of the man next to him as he bowed. "May I introduce King Genma of the Saotome kingdo—"

"YOU!"

They whirled to the outburst. Ranko glared daggers at the man, her fists clenched and her body poised to pounce and rip apart the man. "What the hell are _you_ doing here?"

The king blinked behind his thick glasses before matching the glare. "Ranma! Is that any way to talk to your father?"

Wait. Ran_ma?_ Now her name was _Ranma?_ What happened to _Ranko?_

Wait, wait, wait. _Father?_

"You're gonna pull that card on me? What kind of a messed-up father are you to trap me in that stupid tower?"

"I was looking out for you, boy!"

Akane reeled back. _Boy? _No way! Those were _definitely_ bre—

"Looking out for me? HAH! How the hell were you looking out for me? Happosai gave me _hell_ every single freakin' day and I ran outta firewood and I was almost about t'_starve_—"

"I had no choice! You know how Master Happosai is!"

"Of course I do! He's the one who made me like this in the first place!"

"Stop this nonsense, the both of you!" her father pleaded, his brow glistening with frantic sweat as he turned back and forth between the man and the girl. "We won't get anywhere if you keep arguing!"

King Genma opened his mouth to retort…but suddenly paused, his eyes darting to the kettle in his hand and to Akane. He flicked those eyes to Ranko (Ranma?)…and suddenly hurled the piping hot kettle at Akane.

Akane's eyes widened and she immediately curled into herself, shielding her face with her arms…but the water never hit her.

"YOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWCH!"

Carefully Akane pried open her eyes and found Ranko soaked from head to toe with steaming water. With a loud clang the kettle fell to the ground. Before Akane had time to gasp sympathetically for Ranko or shoot an incredulous glare at the Saotome king, she saw the girl _change_. She shot up in height. Her arms suddenly grew muscular. Her body filled out her once-loose, several-sizes-too-big clothes.

She…became a _he._

"What the hell was _that_ for, you jerk?" the boy snarled at King Genma.

King Genma studied each of the Tendou family members' gaping faces and huffed. "Just as I thought. You _didn't_ let them in on your curse."

"Like _hell_ I didn't! It was bad enough they found me as a _girl! _How much more embarrassing d'ya think it'd be if I'd told them I was really a _guy?_"

The first to recover was Akane's father. "I should have known this was what you were talking about in your letters," her father sighed, rubbing his forehead forlornly.

Next was Akane...sort of. "What the hell just happened?" she demanded, glaring at all three men—especially at the boy. "Who _are_ you?"

"Akane, please calm down," her father tried to coo. "Allow us to explain this."

She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. They'd _better_ explain this and it'd _better_ be a damn _good_ explanation.

Her father sighed and waved a hand to the man who'd thrown the kettle at her. "As I was saying, this is King Genma of the Saotome kingdom."

King Genma bowed low. "I apologize for throwing the kettle at you, princess, but as you can see, I had a point to make. _This_," he pinched the boy's earlobe and yanked him to his side, earning a howl of pain, "is my son, Prince Ranma Saotome."

"Your _son?_" Nabiki repeated. "Last I checked he was a _girl._"

Ranma glowered as King Genma heaved a sigh and said gravely, "Ranma fell into a cursed spring while we were training at Jusenkyo called the Spring of Drowned Girl. Whenever he's splashed with cold water, he becomes female; in order to reverse this, he has to be splashed with hot water."

Well. That was a fairly good explanation…but not good enough.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Akane exclaimed, whirling to Ranma.

"I _did_ tell you!" he insisted, holding his hands up. "I told you I was cursed, remember?"

"You didn't tell me _this_ was the curse! You didn't say anything about already being in your cursed form when I was with you!"

"What difference would that have made? Would you have treated me differently if I was a guy?"

"I trusted you! I believed every word you said and now I find out that they were all _lies!_"

"I never lied to you!"

"But you weren't completely honest! That's just as bad as lying!"

"Akane! Please! It's in the past!" her father cried, placing a hand on her shoulder. "What matters is that you know the truth now and Prince Ranma is clearly sorry for hiding this from you."

She shrugged the hand off brusquely, glaring at Ranma's crappy "apologetic" face. "You were taking advantage of me with that girl form of yours! I bet you were going to rape me in the middle of the night!"

He cringed, reeling back and sticking out his tongue. "Rape _you?_ Gross! Who'd want to even _kiss_ an ugly tomboy like you?"

"A-An ugly tomboy?" she sputtered, her face heating up and her eyes blazing as she stomped towards him with her fists clenched. "You jerk!"

"What're ya gonna do about it?" he taunted, leaping away from her.

Akane chased him around the audience room, throwing punches and kicks as her outraged screams echoed off the walls. How dare he say that about her! How dare he? Ooh, when she caught up with him, she was going to punch his skull in and wring his neck and—

"If you're going to keep arguing like this, I suggest you practice kissing and making up, too, seeing as you'll be spending the rest of your lives together."

She skidded to a halt, nearly smashing her nose into Ranma's back. Both of them exchanged a wide-eyed glance before narrowing their eyes and whipping their heads over their shoulders to stare at their fathers. "_What?_"

"Akane, honey," her father nearly whispered, shooting a nervous look at the Saotome king and swallowing thickly, "Prince Ranma is your fiancé."

* * *

**Author's Afterthought: **I know it's short, but I really wanted to update this story. Please leave a review! Thank you for reading!


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